CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Moncton Fisher Cats struck early, escaped a couple of jams and pulled away late in thumping the Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders 12-1 Tuesday.
Steven Johnson went the distance for the victory in New Brunswick Senior Baseball League play at Memorial Field in a game that was delayed about an hour due to heavy rain in the afternoon. Johnson allowed a run on six hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Lefty Jack Kraft allowed five runs, including one unearned, on four hits and seven walks in five innings. He struck out four.
Charles MacLellan gave up seven runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out a pair in two innings of relief.
Moncton scored three in the top of the first inning, but Charlottetown got one back in the bottom of the second when Kody Matthews smashed a single up the middle to score Kraft, who had tripled off the right-field fence. The Isles threatened with multiple runners in scoring position but were unable to get the key hit to tie the game.
Moncton struck for a pair of runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth and put the game out of reach with four in the seventh.
Justin Cormier, Lance VanNoy and Blake Flinn each had two hits for the visitors while VanNoy, Flinn and Serge Vautour all drove in two runs.
Taylor Larkin, Dillon Doucette, Logan Gallant and Jonathan Arsenault each added a single in the loss.
The third-place Fisher Cats improved to 16-13 while the Islanders (9-21) have dropped five straight games and are in last place in the five-team circuit. The Islanders close out the regular season Saturday in Fredericton, N.B., with a doubleheader with the fourth-place Royals (12-16).
